HONR 121N - Ways of Knowing Final

what was the main plot of Genesis?

Creation of the world → Adam & Eve → the Fall → Cain & Abel → Noah and the Flood → Tower of Babel → Abraham’s covenant with God → Sodom and Gomorrah

Topic: How the world and God’s chosen people begin; moral order; origins.

what are the central themes of Genesis?

Creation, covenant, divine authority, obedience, moral law, human fallibility, origin stories

what was the main topic of The Sun Came Down by Percy Bullchild?

• Blackfeet creation story

• Creator Sun created the world out of playfulness

• Created the Moon (Severed Leg) and Big Dipper as his family

• Snakes are tricksters

• Ribwoman and Mudman as first humans

what are the central themes of The Sun Came Down?

moral lessons; kinship with nature; relational responsibility (reciprocity); oral storytelling.

what was the main topic of Rosalyn LaPier’s “Land as a Text”?

She explains how Indigenous people “read” the land like a text — mountains, rivers, plants, etc. hold stories, teachings, and historical memory.
Topic: Land itself is a source of knowledge and cultural history.

what are the central themes of LaPier’s writings?

• land communicates knowledge

• landscape is a form of literacy

• cultural knowledge stored in places

what was the main plot of Sophocles “Antigone”?

Antigone wants to bury her brother Polyneices even though King Creon forbids it. She buries him anyway → Creon punishes her → tragedy unfolds as Antigone, Creon’s son Haemon, and Creon’s wife all die.
Topic: Clash between divine law and human law; moral duty vs political power.

what are the central themes of Antigone?

Divine law vs. human law, moral duty, conscience, justice, fate, gender, political authority.

what was the main topic of Sappho’s poetry?

Short lyric poems about love, longing, beauty, desire, memory, and emotional experience. Many are fragmentary but focus on personal emotion.

what are the central themes of Sappho’s poetry?

Love, longing, beauty, human emotion, subjectivity, perception.

what was the main topic of Plato’s “Euthyphro”?

Socrates meets Euthyphro outside court. They debate what “piety” is. Euthyphro keeps offering definitions, Socrates keeps taking them apart.

what are the central themes of Euthyphro?

What is piety? Is something good because gods love it, or do gods love it because it is good?

what does piety mean?

deep reverence, devotion, and dutiful respect, primarily towards God or a religious faith, expressed through worship and obedience

what was the main topic of Plato’s “Apology”?

Socrates is on trial for corrupting youth and impiety. He defends himself, explains his mission to question people, refuses to stop, and is sentenced to death.

• brings up the question of if it’s worth it to die for what you believe in (correlates with Antigone)

what are the central themes of Apology?

The examined life, humility, integrity, the limits of human knowledge.
Ways of knowing: Socratic questioning; knowing what you don’t know; reason > tradition.

what was the main topic of Montaigne’s “On Solitude”?

Montaigne talks about the value of withdrawing from society and cultivating inner peace, independence, and self-reflection.

what are the central themes of On Solitude?

Retreat from society to cultivate the self; self-reflection; freedom from societal pressures.

what was the main topic of Montaigne’s “On Cannibalism”?

Montaigne describes Brazilian Indigenous people (based on secondhand accounts) and argues Europeans are actually more barbaric.

• says Europeans tend to think that anyone different from them is inferior and “barbaric”

what are the central themes of On Cannibalism?

criticism of racial supremacy, encourages that differences in cultures can be beautiful

what was the main topic of Kant’s “What is Enlightenment”?

Kant answers: Enlightenment is people learning to use their own reason without guidance from others.

• talks about the power of thinking for oneself, very relevant today in the times of AI

what are the central themes of Kant’s Enlightenment?

Enlightenment = emergence from self-imposed immaturity; use of reason publicly; autonomy; freedom of thought.

what was the main topic of Francis Bacon’s “The New Organon”?

Bacon proposes a new scientific method based on observation, experimentation, and clearing “idols” (biases) from our minds.

what are the central themes of Bacon’s new method?

Scientific method; induction; experiment; “idols” that distort reason; knowledge is power.
Ways of knowing: Empiricism; controlled experiments; observation.

what was the main topic of Marx and Engles’ “Communist Manifesto”?

• history is driven by class struggle

• capitalism exploits workers

• revolution is needed for a classless society.

what are the central themes of the Communist Manifesto?

Class struggle; material conditions shape consciousness; critique of capitalism; revolutionary change.

what is capitalism?

private owners (bourgeoisie) control the "means of production" (factories, land) for profit, creating vast wealth inequality by paying workers less than the value they create

what is socialism?

society collectively owns the means of production, but private property might still exist

what was the main topic of Alan Turing’s “Computing Machinery and Intelligence”?

Turing asks “Can a machine think?” and proposes the Imitation Game (Turing Test) to answer it

what are the central themes of Turing’s writings?

Can machines think? Imitation Game; functional vs metaphysical definition of mind; behavior as knowledge test.

what was the main topic of Kimmerer’s “Braiding Sweetgrass”?

Skywoman: A woman falls from the sky; animals help her; she creates Turtle Island.
Nanabozho: A trickster/teacher learns to live respectfully on Earth.
Topic: Creation through cooperation, reciprocity, and learning from the natural world.

what are the central themes of Braiding Sweetgrass?

Creation as reciprocity; humans as caretakers; kinship with plants and animals; gratitude; balance.

what was the main topic of Kimmerer’s “Two Ways of Knowing”?

Kimmerer explains how scientific knowledge and Indigenous wisdom can work together, each offering different insights and methods.

what is the main topic of Rene Decartes’ “A Discourse on the Method”?

Descartes explains how he broke down all his beliefs, doubted everything he could, and rebuilt knowledge from certainty (“I think, therefore I am”). He lays out a step-by-step method for reasoning, including breaking problems into parts and building conclusions from clear, distinct ideas.
Topic: How to reach certainty and establish a reliable method for acquiring knowledge.

what are the central themes of A Discourse on the Method?

• Radical doubt as the starting point of knowledge

• Reason as the foundation for truth

• Methodical thinking (breaking problems down, building up from clear ideas)

• Certainty and the self (“I think, therefore I am”)

• Rejection of tradition/authority in favor of individual investigation

• Science as a product of proper reasoning

what is the main topic of Ursula Franklin’s “The Real World of Technology”?

Franklin argues that technology is not just machines — it shapes society, values, labor, and how people interact.

what are holistic technologies?

handmade, human-centered (pottery, weaving, etc.), everything is unique

what are prescriptive technologies?

factory-minded, required hierarchy and standardization, promotes conformity, no individuality

what is the main topic of Lao Tzu’s “Tao Te Ching”?

A collection of short poetic teachings about the Tao (the Way), harmony, simplicity, non-action (wu wei), humility, and living in alignment with nature. No plot; it’s a philosophical/spiritual guide.
Topic: How to live wisely by embracing simplicity, balance, and effortless action.

what are the central themes of the Tao?

• The Tao (the Way) as the natural order of the universe

• Wu wei (non-action) — acting effortlessly and without force

• Humility and simplicity as virtues

• The limits of language (the Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao)

• Harmony with nature and flowing with change

• The power of softness/emptiness (water, valleys, yielding)

• Critique of ambition and rigid control

• Anti-ego, anti-striving philosophy

what is the main plot of the Book of Job?

Job is a righteous man who suffers devastating losses when God allows Satan to test him. Job demands an explanation. His friends insist suffering is punishment, but Job maintains his innocence. God eventually speaks from a whirlwind, emphasizing divine mystery and the limits of human understanding. Job is restored at the end.